"They Were Great - Even Jeremy Strong" - Brian Cox Looks Back at Working With the 'Succession' Cast

When you cast someone like Brian Cox as your king, you know what you're getting into, and Cox delivers in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim as the reknown Helm Hammerhand. If that name sounds familiar to you, that's because the notable fortress known as the Hornburg in Middle-earth was known as Helm's Deep, thanks to the events that occurred in War of the Rohirrim. The film tells the story of a legendary king of Rohan who was forced to defend his kingdom against an army of Dunlendings. In Tolkien lore, the Dunlendings were wild men who lived near Rohan and often got into conflicts and altercations with the Rohirrim. In the movie, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) seeks vengeance against Cox's Helm Hammerhand after Helm rejects the offer Wulf's father makes to marry his son to Helm's daughter, Héra (Gaia Wise). This begins a feud that leads to bloodshed and death and forever changes Rohan.

Collider spoke with Cox about playing Helm Hammerhand and the actor's history with Lord of the Rings. Cox talked a little about his experience with Tolkien and the folklore the author often used as inspiration. He also discussed his career, his habit of playing these types of patriarchal men in power, and his thoughts on what roles he wants in the future. Finally, we looked back on his time on Succession, and Cox discusses his favorite aspect of working on the hit HBO series. You can check out the full conversation in the player above or read the transcript below.

Brian Cox Never Read Tolkien Until After Watching the Peter Jackson Movies

"I read The Hobbit, so I got into it then, but I wasn't a Tolkien fan. That wasn't my thing."

Image via Warner Bros.

COLLIDER: Because Helm Hammerhand is this really well-known character in the lore of Lord of the Rings, was there any intimidation coming into voicing this type of character and getting it right, or is it just another job?

BRIAN COX: I'm afraid it's just another job, but it's a magnificent job. I don't knock the job, but it is another job. I didn't know anything about Lord of the Rings. I had never read Tolkien. I did after I saw the Peter Jackson series. I read The Hobbit, so I got into it then, but I wasn't a Tolkien fan. That wasn't my thing. But also, having read it, I realized how Celtic a lot of it is, and I recognize the physicality of the land, which is very key. And of course, Scotland, being a Scot, we have a beautiful country. So, I could see how New Zealand and Scotland and Ireland have a thing in common, which is very Tolkien-like.

I think he was very influenced by the Celtic mythology of the area, and by the Norse mythology.

COX: I think there's a lot of crossover, and of course, that did happen a lot at that time. With Dublin, the Norse raided and lived there for a long time. The redheaded Irishman comes directly from the Viking invasions; that's why you get your redheaded Irish men and women. That's from the Vikings.

Brian Cox Talks About King Charles and His Feeling About Kings and Presidents

"I don't believe in kings, I don't believe in them at all, but I have a lot of respect for people who are kings."

Image via Warner Bros

You've had a prolific career. Is there still a role out there or job out there that you would take because you haven't never gotten a chance to do it, either on stage or on screen?

COX: I've been very lucky in the range of work I've got, so I can't complain. I tend not to think too much in the future. I really tend to deal with what's happening immediately. A lot of human beings spend their lives living in the future, and they just get more and more disappointed because the future gets more and more disappointing, whereas I've never really gone down that road. It has to be the here and now. It has to be this moment. So, if that job comes along and I look at it and I think, “Yeah, this is a great part, I want to play,” I’ll play it, and boom, end of story. Then you work with somebody who's as wonderful as Philippa Boyens, who allows you to be and allows you to play the part the way you can, the way you know how to respond to that role.

Because I've played a lot of those guys, you know? I know that territory pretty well. Those guys who essentially make a lonely life for themselves because of, I think, the nature of being a king. I don't believe in kings, I don't believe in them at all, but I have a lot of respect for people who are kings. I've got a lot of respect for Charles, who had to wait until the age of 76 to become a king, and that sort of legitimized himself in some way. I thank fuck I didn't have that problem that they have. [Laughs] So, I have a great respect. I think it's a tragic thing that you can waste your life on that. But there are good kings, and there are bad kings, just in the way there are good presidents, and there are bad presidents. We see that all the time. That's a fact of life.

We don't need to get into that because, honestly, that will just start me down a tangent. It's not a road I need to walk down.

COX: No, you don't need to walk down that road at all.

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Brian Cox Looks Back at the Highlight of Working on 'Succession'

"As long as we could do the acting, that was it."

Image via HBO

I have to ask you about Succession because myself and, like, millions of others are huge fans. What a great finale to that show. What is the thing that you look back on that you're the proudest of being a part of that type of story?

COX: I think it was the group. I think it was a phenomenal group of actors to work with. They were great — even Jeremy Strong. [Laughs] Jeremy's a great actor. He was wonderful to act with. I loved acting with Jeremy. There was a lot of other stuff I didn't particularly care for, but that was neither here nor there. As long as we could do the acting, that was it. And then, of course, [Matthew] MacFadyen, the great MacFadyen. He is good. And Greg.

There was a great cast, and of course, to watch the growth of Kieran Culkin over five years. When we started, they would give him five alts, and he would panic. But by the end of it, he was doing five pages of alts and doing it like just falling off a rock. It was amazing. He's an extraordinary young man, and he's getting a great deal of success. Because he was in a very strange situation, having been a child actor and making that very difficult bridge, and now he's emerged superbly, I think.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is in theaters now.

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The untold story behind Helm's Deep, hundreds of years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.

Release Date December 13, 2024

Director Kenji Kamiyama

Runtime 134 Minutes

Main Genre Fantasy

Studio(s) New Line Cinema , Warner Bros. Animation , Sola Entertainment

Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures